It’s always inspiring to learn about Mainers who go on to become key players in developing projects of national historic importance.

Richard A. Houghton, formerly of Waterville, is principal landscape artist on the Adams Memorial Commission, which is planning a permanent memorial to President John Adams and his family in Washington, D.C. Houghton, 47, was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2023 to serve on the commission, which includes a member of Congress and other presidential appointees.

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Adams Memorial-Great Heroes Act, which the Senate is reviewing. Confirmation would authorize up to $50 million in federal funding for the project. Officials are establishing a vision for what the memorial will look like, with a library and garden on the National Mall as one of the proposals. A site is expected to be chosen this year as part of the legislation. The memorial would honor Adams, the country’s second president, and his family. Itwould be constructed with public money and with private funding through the nonprofit Adams Memorial Foundation, on whose board Houghton also serves.

“It was really exciting to me to be able to be part of something of shared value for our country and to use some of my professional skills I’ve developed in landscape architecture related to this initiative,” Houghton said Tuesday in a phone interview.

Houghton, who now lives in Quincy, Massachusetts, has 20 years of experience in landscape architecture and urban design in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Florida, with award-winning projects in various spaces including urban parks.

He is principal landscape architect for Halvorson Design Studio, a part of the Boston architectural firm Tighe & Bond, whose Boston office Houghton manages.

Houghton managed the award-winning Hancock Adams Common project completed in 2018, which transformed and realigned downtown Quincy’s urban fabric, creating a park and streetscape improvements.

The civic open space unites the historic Old Town Hall and Church of the Presidents in Quincy, where the crypts of Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams, the 6th U.S. president, are located. The project, which received multiple awards, includes two monumental fountains and a pedestrian promenade with bronze sculptures of John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams, as well as of founding father, John Hancock. Last year, Houghton managed a renovation of the historic fountains in Boston’s Public Garden.

Houghton said he is honored to work on the Adams memorial in Washington, D.C..

“The most inspiring aspect to me is that they guided their actions through principles that are still particularly relevant today,” Houghton said, “including civil liberty, the power of ideas and a determination to improve our nation through addressing challenges head-on.”

New England, he said, played a tremendous role in establishing the republic, and the Adams legacy is a strong representation of U.S. culture and values.

“The Adams Commission is bringing this aspect of our history to Washington,” he said.

Born in Portland, Houghton spent several years growing up in Waterville, loving the outdoors and gaining an appreciation for art and science. His father, the late Richard D. Houghton, was a well-known and respected optometrist whose office was on College Avenue in Waterville. As a teenager, the younger Houghton played music with friends including Raffi DerSimonian, with whom he continues to stay in touch. Houghton plays baritone trombone, among other instruments.

“I have a bass guitar right now that I bought at Al Corey’s,” he said, referring to a popular Main Street music shop owned by Corey, a musician. “Waterville was a great place to learn music, and I had great teachers.”

After graduating from Waterville Senior High School in 1997, Houghton wanted to attend the University of Maine, but the school didn’t offer a major in landscape architecture. He enrolled at the University of Vermont, where he studied zoology and then changed to landscape architecture. He later earned a bachelor of science degree in landscape architecture from University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Houghton hopes people will take the time to learn about the Adams Memorial Foundation at theadamsmemorial.org. It’s dedicated to commemorating the core values the Adamses embodied. Those values include demonstrating that with hard work and determination, ideas can change the nation for the better.

You might say Houghton himself exemplifies such hard work and determination, and we Watervillians can be proud he hails from this place.

Amy Calder has been a Morning Sentinel reporter 37 years. Her columns appear here Sundays. She is the author of the book, “Comfort is an Old Barn,” a collection of her curated columns, published in 2023 by Islandport Press. She may be reached at [email protected]. For previous Reporting Aside columns, go to centralmaine.com.